Foreclosed Homes Auction for Upscale North Carolina Assets

A foreclosed homes auction will be held next year to sell off properties in the upscale neighborhood called Mackintosh on the Lake in Burlington, a city in Alamance County, North Carolina.

The 612-acre development is located between Interstate 85 and Lake Mackintosh, the lake that supplies water for the city of Burlington. After developer MacIntosh LLC defaulted on its loan owed to PNC Bank, trustee Alan Ferguson filed a foreclosure sale notice in the courts of Guilford and Alamance counties.

MacIntosh LLC was formed by Wakefield Development, a subsidiary of Virginia-based L.M. Sandler and Sons, to develop the Mackintosh community. In September 2004, Wakefield borrowed $12 million from Pittsburgh-based National City Bank and then increased the loan in 2007 to $21 million. Last year, PNC acquired National City, including the Wakefield loan.

Based on stories in news archives, the Mackintosh project was approved by the city of Burlington in December 2003 and home construction started in March 2005. Several hundred houses and townhouses have been constructed, with prices starting at around $150,000. Bigger houses built near Lake Mackintosh were priced at around $1 million.

Several homes and home lots are excluded from the foreclosed homes auction, such as some properties in the neighborhoods of Prestwick, Avalon, Braemar, Glenmoor, Ballantrae, Inverness, Tayside Townhomes, Kenross Townes and Glenmore Townhomes.

According to Wakefield Development officers, it would take about ten years to complete the 2,000-house project.

Last year, it was also reported by a local newspaper that Wakefield failed to pay over $2.7 million to its contractors, including Triad Grading and Paving, which filed the bulk of the total mechanic’s liens. But according to former Wakefield top executive John Myers, the contractors were already paid. Myers said that he left the firm in a downsizing scheme, but he still does consultation work for the company.

Many in the area were surprised at the foreclosure of the Mackintosh development because it was thought to be immune from financial troubles. Wakefield hosted summertime triathlons, helped determine a new school location and planned to establish a neighborhood shopping center.

But foreclosures have started in Alamance long before other counties experienced them, according to local real estate agents, because of the difficulties of developers in restructuring their construction loans.

Wakefield Development is also struggling with its residential projects in other North Carolina counties. Without help from other investors or lenders, most, if not all, of its unsold properties are also expected to go into foreclosed homes auction.

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